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Right now it can take a law enforcement officer up to four hours to receive a warrant to conduct a blood draw on a suspected drunk or drugged driver. In many cases, the suspect would have sobered up enough by the time of the blood draw making the results of the draw meaningless to support a DUI conviction.

To help combat this problem, Washington state officials are developing a new blood warrant database named "Elias" that should be ready for use by the fall, reports King 5 News. The database will essentially be a website where the arresting officer can enter all the relevant information and evidence supporting a warrant. After entering the information, the data will be sent to a judge who may immediately make a determination on the warrant.

An officer will no longer have to hunt down a judge or call the judge up in the middle of the night attempting to describe the circumstances supporting the warrant. Instead, the database would create a seamless system between the arresting officer and judge that could cut down the time to obtain a warrant from four hours to just 30 minutes.

Contact a King County DUI Attorney

Prosecutors may rely upon a wide variety of evidence to charge you with a DUI. To learn more about the evidence that can be used against you and whether the evidence was lawfully obtained, you will want to contact an experienced attorney. To get help in the King County area, contact an attorney at Cowan Kirk Gaston Wolff by calling 1-866-822-1230.

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About the Author

Bill Kirk has been named a Super Lawyer by Washington Law and Politics Magazine every year since 2003. He currently serves on the Board of Regents to the National College for DUI Defense and is the President of the Washington Foundation for Criminal Justice. Bill is one of only two attorneys in this state to pass the National College's Board Certification Exam.

Cowan Kirk Kattenhorn

Cowan Kirk Kattenhorn is known throughout Washington and the nation for representing all of its clients with commitment, creativity and compassion. We recognize how devastating a DUI charge can be, particularly when our clients learn how incredibly tough Washington's DUI laws have become, even for a first-time offender.

If you need a DUI defense attorney in Seattle, Bellevue, or King County, contact us today to find out why respect for our clients, a passion for justice, and our commitment to winning have earned each of us the highest honor a member of the bar can receive from our colleagues – their referrals.